Military consultation during the Dutch Patriot Period – Aaron Santcroos, 1787
MILITARY COUNCIL DURING THE PATRIOT PERIOD
Two Orangist scenes from the Dutch Patriot Period, drawings in pen, brush and watercolour, executed around 1787 by Aaron Santcroos, signed “A. Santcroos St. ac. Pt.”. Size: each 13.4 × 20.4 cm.
The scenes in these two fine drawings are set against the background of the political crisis of the Patriot Period in The Netherlands, when the position of stadholder William V came under increasing pressure and Orangists and Patriots found themselves ever more sharply opposed.
The Orangist character of the drawings is unmistakable. In one interior, the arms of William V hang on the wall. In the other, the chimneypiece is surmounted by a portrait medallion, possibly of William IV (William V’s father) with the arms of Orange-Nassau once again displayed beneath it.
The drawings probably show successive moments in the Orangist response to Patriot political mobilisation and the events of 1787. In both interiors, simple timber partitions have been erected, as if existing rooms had been temporarily adapted as an office or command post.
The maps are the key to the subject. In one drawing, a military plan is being discussed; in the other, a comparable map hangs on the wall, where the progress of military movements is being followed. Both sheets also show the arms of Holland (gold with a red lion) the province at the heart of the conflict.
The figures are shown with clearly differentiated roles. The richly dressed officer in blue uniform, with embroidered waistcoat, high black gaiters and sword, appears to be the highest-ranking military figure present. The man in the light-coloured suit appears in both scenes and acts as the civil pivot of the consultation, presumably an Orangist regent or adviser. The faces of those present seem more satisfied than tense. From an Orangist perspective this is understandable: the military campaign was proceeding favourably, Patriot resistance eventually broke, and after the capitulation of Amsterdam on 10 October 1787 stadholderly authority could be restored.
Little is known about Aaron Santcroos (1727/1728–1795). He was a Jewish draughtsman and engraver, active in Amsterdam, who left only a small oeuvre. His Jewish background is not without significance in this context. During the Patriot Period, many Amsterdam Jews were known as outspoken Orangists: they regarded the House of Orange as a protection against civic exclusion and Patriot burgher politics, while the tensions of 1787 also led to unrest in Amsterdam’s Jewish quarter.
Price: SOLD
